... Education Act established a national system of education to be free, secular and compulsory.
1879HALL GOVERNMENT. John Hall formed a ministry.
...An annual property tax was introduced to collect revenue and encourage the break-up of large landholdings. The tax was one penny in the pound on the capital value of a citizen's total possessions above 500 pounds less debts. This was repealed in 1891.

1882 WHITAKER GOVERNMENT. Whitaker formed his second ministry. On September 25 1883 Atkinson became Premier again and on 19 August 1884 Vogel returning from England again formed a Government.

1890. BALLANCE GOVERNMENT. Election won by newly formed Liberal-Labour Party

under John Ballance.

1891 Taxes. The Land and Income Assessment Act passed into law repealing the 1879 property tax. This introduced imposts on land and income and provided for the establishment of a government department to administer them. The rate of ordinary land tax was set atone penny in the pound, and this was increased over the next 20 years. Up to 1916 ordinary land tax was payable on the capital value of mortgages owned. The income provisions of the Act levied tax on all incomes of more than 300 pounds. The rate was six pence in the pound on the first taxable 1000 pounds and 1/- in the pound on taxable incomes of more than 1000 pounds. Incomes from mortgages, rents and from the use or produce of land derived by the owner or occupier were exempt. The company tax rate was 5%.

1893 September 9. Government Electoral Bill passed with provisions to enfranchise women, New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote and this was exercised for the first
time on November 28 when 85% of women enrolled voted.
... 1 May. SEDDON GOVERNMENT. Richard John Seddon (King Dick) one-time West Coast pub-owner, succeeded Ballance as Premier on the latter's death.1894Compulsory arbitration of industrial disputes and reform of employment laws.

1896 Tax. The Rating on Unimproved Value Act authorised, local bodies to tax ratepayers on the unimproved value of their land.

1898Old Age Pension Act passed.

1905. WARD GOVERNMENT June 10. Richard Seddon died suddenly of a heart attack whilst returning from Sydney. William Hall Jones headed an interim Government until August 6 when Sir Joseph Ward took office as Prime Minister.

1911. Laws. The Widow's Pension was introduced.1912 23 March. McKenzie Government. Thomas McKenzie replaced Ward as Prime Minister.
...10 July. MASSEY GOVERNMENT. William Ferguson Massey at the head of a Reform Party became Prime Minister.

1915 COALITION GOVERNMENT. A wartime National Coalition Government formed by the Reform and Liberal Parties.

1916 July 7th and 8th. The New Zealand Labour Party was formed at a conference in Wellington.

1919 Returning soldiers just tip the vote against prohibition.

1919 Prime Minister Massey signs the Treaty of Versailles rather than the British on behalf of New Zealand

1919 Women. Women became eligible as candidates in general elections. The first woman to stand was Ellen Melville in 1923 and the first to be elected was Elizabeth McCombs, Labour Member for Lyttelton in 1933. In 1947 Mabel Howard was the first woman to hold a Cabinet post as Social Welfare Minister under Labour.
...21 August. MASSEY GOVERNMENT. The wartime coalition National Government broke up and on 178 December Massey again headed the Government. Among the new Labour M.P.s was Michael Joseph Savage who won the Auckland West seat. Between 1907 and 1908 Michael Savage had worked as a flax cutter and toitoi "grubber" at Tokomaru near Palmerston North. Moving to Auckland he worked in a brewery before entering politics.

1925. COATES GOVERNMENT. 10 May. William Massey died and Sir Francis Dillon Bell led an interim ministry until the 30 May when Gordon Coates became the new Reform Party leader and Prime Minister.

1927 Tax. December. The Motor Spirits Taxation Act imposed a duty of 4d. a gallon on all imported petrol and from 1930 to 1939 this was increased in stages to 14d. per gallon.

1928 WARD GOVERNMENT. 14 November. Election results gave none of the parties a working majority. Ward led a minority Government after United and Labour combined against Coates and his fellow Reformers.

1929 As the Depression deepened the 1930 Unemployment Board set up for relief work.

1930 FORBES GOVERNMENT. Ward died in 1930 to be succeeded by George Forbes.

1931. September. A COALITION GOVERNMENT. The United Party under Forbes and the Reform Party under Coates announced the formation of a coalition National Party.

1933 Taxes. February. Sales Tax imposed - as a temporary measure - to generate additional revenue during the Great Depression. A rate of 5% was applied to the wholesale value of non-exempt goods. The rate was doubled to 10% in 1940 then to 20% in 1942. From 1947 an increasing range of items was exempted from sales tax.
1935 SAVAGE GOVERNMENT. The Labour party won a landslide victory and Michael Joseph Savage became Prime Minister at the head of New Zealand's first Labour Government.
...State housing programme launched.